Author: andrewlenz (Page 181 of 329)

Tuesday, October 19, 2021 (Court Day #424)

Rain is predicted for later this week and Sunday. My wife said I should play tonight and Thursday while I have the chance. I arrived after work at Skypark at 6:40. It was already getting dark.

A few hours before, I’d invited my former employee Alain and the PT assistant Dan and both said they’d make it.

I ended up making every shot tonight lefty. I successfully gave my right arm a solid break. It was good to see Alain again. He’s so quick on the court. Too bad he can’t play more often, he could get really good with time in.

Sharyl hit a nice sharp crosscourt shot at the net. I had to sprint and stretch and I wasn’t sure if I’d catch it, but my lefty ATP solidly caught the back corner of their court. The accolades were profuse!

In another game, I overheard Tim talking to Dan at the other end of the court. I didn’t catch all of it, but I heard parts, “…it’s not fair . . . play that good offhanded . . .” It was obvious that he was impressed with my play lefty.

I was not the last to leave for a change. I called it a night shortly after 9:30. I left Larry, Janet, Terry S., and Dan—with my paddle—playing one last game.

Wednesday, October 20, 2021 (No Play)

PickleballTournaments.com sent out an email this morning which included this video with Ben Johns sharing the ton of stuff he keeps in his tournament bag:

I also received an email saying that official SCPC play at Derby Park was delayed until 10 a.m. I figured that was very optimistic. This would be Rick’s second day as Wednesday site coordinator and making the call about canceling play is the hardest part of the position. As I walked to my car at 9:30 a.m. for work, it was drizzling. I was thinking, “There is no way play is happening today.” Sure enough, another email came saying play was canceled. Rick will figure it out with time.

Number of days on a court: 424
Number of total hours: 2,107

To start at the beginning of this blog click on “1st Post” in the menu above.

Sunday, October 17, 2021 (Court Day #423)

Today was a mix of easy games with newbies and solid challenging games.

This was my first day resuming my duties as Sunday site coordinator for Derby Park. Dave Witte, Tim, John P., Rick A. were all there to assist—in fact, though I was 15 minutes early (8:45 a.m.), Tim and Rick beat me there. I had solid support to get players to sign the waiver form and also understand how things work under the auspices of the Santa Cruz Pickleball Club.

Friend Sighting!

Over the years, you get to know people though your work. Since our family business is artist materials and picture framing, I get to know people at the University of California, Santa Cruz who are related to art . . . professors, lecturers, administrators, some students, and in the case today, a director of one of the galleries on campus, Shelby. Shelby took an early retirement in June this year, four months ago. I was happily surprised to see her on the courts. Just as an example, 11 years ago to the week, I was on-site at her gallery helping repair/correct some framing on a very large loaned piece of artwork and I already was well acquainted with her at that time. I asked her when she started playing and she said when she retired. I didn’t get to play with her, but watching, she looked solid.

Notable games today

Late in the morning, Ted B. and I took on Eric S. and Adrian. That was a fun and challenging game. I played very well in that game and Ted said as much afterward. He and I won.

My last two games featured me and Adrian against Rick and his girlfriend Renee who had made a surprise appearance from Brommer Park where they normally play on Sundays. When I asked, they said that they’d gone to Brommer first and it had only 8 players and the two courts were arranged games—that is, very difficult to rotate into . . . so they left and came to the westside of Santa Cruz instead. I was very happy to see them. Both are strong intermediate players.

Adrian and I got killed in the first game against Rick and Renee. It was something like 11-2 or something horrible like that. Both of us didn’t exactly play great. Adrian missed a few of his serves and I lost a lob in the sun and that was only the beginning. Adrian apologized and said he wasn’t playing well.

We played a rematch, switching sides. This time, it was Adrian and me who walked away with the game.

We were going to play a tiebreaker, but when I asked the time, it was already 1:15. I was supposed to FaceTime with my son at 1:25 to share the Raiders NFL football game! Time to go! I scrambled to stow the last net, take down the signup board, grab the “welcome mat” and the ball caddie, put the donation monies into an appropriate envelope and a few other duties. Did I forget anything? Nope, looks good. Say goodbyes and out!

Health?

My right elbow as well as my forearm were sore . . . a mild precursor to worse tennis elbow. I used ice on them and later used the massage gun. Hopefully, it holds up.

Number of days on a court: 423
Number of total hours: 2,104

To start at the beginning of this blog click on “1st Post” in the menu above.

Thursday, October 14, 2021 (Court Day #422)

I texted Dan, the PT assistant, and told him that I’d be playing about 6:45, which was the time I arrived and found him waiting in the parking lot.

I spent the evening mostly playing with or against Dan. Dan is coming along, he still needs to work on pop ups, court positioning, some strategy, more ball control. But he’s doing all right.

The last four games were Dan and me against a rotation of Matt, Paul, and Eric of the clan of young men. I’m still learning to remember Eric’s name. Dan and I got clobbered in that first game which was against Matt and Paul who are the most formidable of that group. We did better when we rotated through and played them a second time.

Games were done by 9:30. I was not thrilled with my play. I’m realizing that I have a much harder time judging ball distance under lights. As my third day in a row playing, my right shoulder was noticeably sore. Could that have affected my play? Possibly.

Scary Guy

Eric, Paul and Matt shared a story. So, a couple of weeks ago—after issuing a death threat to John—the mysterious guy who lives near the courts went immediately back to the pickleball courts and called the players still hanging out there “rapists”. Then when they tried to leave the parking lot, the guy stood in the exit and blocked a car from leaving. When that happened, all the players got out of their cars and got the guy to back down.

I encouraged Eric to report the incident so there is some recorded history if the guy acts out again. Eric seemed inclined to go to the SVPD.

Saturday, October 16, 2021 (No Play)

My right elbow where the two bones meet was quite sore. It would sometimes ache when I wasn’t even moving. Three pickleball outings in 48 hours was definitely pushing it. It’s feeling a little better today.

Number of days on a court: 422
Number of total hours: 2,100

To start at the beginning of this blog click on “1st Post” in the menu above.